Wherever there are humans there is music
Musicology: A window into the past M usic is arguably the most potent artform. It has the ability to transcend time and space, as well as culture,
political pressure and memories of the traumatic life he led, dying in 1975 a deject man. In terms of his music, it is ridden with distress and paranoia. This can be heard particularly in his 8th String Quartet. He utilises a four-note motif (based on the German musical notation of DSCH, acting as a musical signature) that is thrown around across instruments in a panicked frenzy. With musical codes such as this, he creates a soundscape of raw terror that carries a deeper political meaning. Another great 20th Century example is George Gershwin, in relation to his famous Rhapsody in Blue . The composition is a melting pot of different themes and styles, from blues to stride, with sections sounding distinctly Latin and others more traditionally classical. On top of this, instruments never seen before in the orchestra, such as the saxophone and the banjo, were added. Growing up in New York, an increasingly globalised city, he came into contact with many different cultures. He worked in Tin Pan Alley, the centre of American popular music at the time, and then on Broadway. Taking into account the multiculturalism of the city he lived in, and his diverse musical experience, it’s not hard to understand how he was able to effortlessly incorporate all the different, seemingly conflicting styles, into one of the most successful orchestral pieces of all time (an achievement made even more impressive by the fact that he only had three weeks to compose it!). So why is this so important? As we have seen, using musicology, we can gain a unique insight into the lives and historical contexts of the people behind the music. In this sense, it can act as a sort of time-machine, a window between past and present. The ability to look back at those who came before us, in a world that is increasingly accelerating forwards, is an important one that we should all nurture. Ignorance of the past leads to an ill-informed future. ◎
by Thomas Callaghan, Year 9
instantly communicating ideas and messages with ease. We can sit down and listen to Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings (written almost 100 years ago) and instantly feel its sense of loss and despair, then in the next moment, we can listen to ABBA’s Waterloo , and have our feelings reversed. Music achieves all of this despite its apparent abstractness; we cannot physically grasp it, there is no visualisation. We, the listener, must ascertain its messages through vibrations in the air around us hitting our ears. Musicology can also help to interpret these messages. Simply put, musicology is the scholarly study of music. It can involve many different aspects, such as sociology, technology, and acoustics, however, in this overview, the focus will be primarily on music history, and how, across time, space, and culture, we can use it to decipher the meaning behind music that we listen to. Wherever there are humans, there is music. Arch- aeologists have found flutes made from ivory from almost 50,000 years ago across the world. The Epic of Gilgamesh, dating back 5,000 years, was performed often in song, with an instrument gish- gu-di, a sort of lute. The orchestra as we know it today first appeared across Europe 500 years ago. Electronic music gained widespread popularity 50 years ago. It appears intrinsically human that we express our experiences through music. One of the starkest examples of this is Dmitri Shostakovich, a Russian composer who lived under the grip of the Soviet Union. Composing music during Stalin’s rule, he was constantly in fear of his life. As a lover of Jewish culture, he was distraught at the horrors of the Second World War. Even after Stalin’s death in 1953, he was often at odds with Soviet authorities. He was a heavy smoker who suffered crippling anxiety attacks on account of
Using musicology we can gain a unique insight into the lives and historical contexts of the people behind the music
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OPINION, INTERVIEWS & FEATURES
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